fermented cauliflower and carrots with garlic

I used to love oven-roasted vegetables, and cauliflower was one of my key favorites especially when heavily laden with cumin.  So, I buy it, but then I don't always get around to the roasting these days. 

I started to wonder how it is fermented and stumbled upon this recipe. It's been on my counter for six days and I just tried it and it is SO GOOD.  Excellent texture and super garlicky taste.  I'll let it finish up today and then I'll refrigerate it. 

I crammed the vegetables in pretty tight especially around the top, covered with brine, and then put a lid on it which I "burped" regularly (and asked the dogsitter to as well).  It worked great!

Ingredients:

• 3 garlic cloves, peeled and slightly crushed, but still intact
• 3 cups cauliflower florets, rinsed in cold water
• 3 large carrots, cut into thin sticks
• 2 Tbsp. sea salt
• 1 quart filtered water

Instructions:

1. Place the crushed garlic in the bottom of a clean quart jar. Follow with layers of cauliflower and carrots, making sure there is an even mixture of both inside the jar.
2. Dissolve sea salt in water. Fill up the remaining space in the jar with the salt solution. Use a wooden or plastic utensil to release any air bubbles trapped along the sides of the jar.
3. If necessary, weigh the vegetables down under the brine.
4. Cover each jar with a tight lid, airlock lid, or coffee filter secured with a rubber band.
5. Culture at room temperature (60-70°F is preferred) until desired flavor and texture are achieved. If using a tight lid, burp daily to release excess pressure.
6. Once the vegetables are finished, put a tight lid on the jar and move to cold storage. The flavor will continue to develop.

sourdough crepes

These are SO GOOD and a great way to use "discard." From here.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sourdough starter
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 2 tbsp. melted butter
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup milk (to thin batter) (I will try whey for this - it should still be good) 

Instructions:

1. Heat a 10-inch skillet over medium heat. In a medium bowl combine all ingredients, slowly adding milk until the desired (thin) consistency is reached. Add some butter to the skillet once it's hot.
2. Pour 1/3 cup of the batter into the center of the pan. Pick up the pan and turn and tilt it to allow batter to spread in a circular motion. Cook for about one minute or until edges come away from pan. Flip and cook an additional minute or two.
3. Remove crepe from pan and repeat with remaining batter, adding butter to pan as needed. Serve with jam, berries, whipped cream, or syrup.  (Or savory: fermented vegetables and sour cream.)

sourdough dog treats

What to do when you've got sourdough "discard"?

Well, my dog is obsessed with all things fermented.  She would run through the Valley of Death to get to a sourdough pancake, so I figured sourdough treats would be a good high-reward treat for her.  PLus, my friend read the ingredients out loud to the Trader Joe's "Peanut Butter" dog treats, and there wasn't a lick of peanut butter in them.  Time to start making my own.

The recipe is from here, which I follow pretty closely.  I just got a pizza cutter to help make the cutting easier.  The recipe is really for big bone-shapped treats, but I get the most usage when I cut them into tiny treats.  If I cook them thoroughly enough and let them dry, they're countertop stable for a couple of weeks at least (though I tend to freeze the bulk and pull them out as necessary).  My dog loves them and they are high value, so it's a win-win.  They are rich, so she doesn't get very much at a time.  They're made from ingredients that I often have on-hand and need to use up.  It's a winning recipe!

Ingredients

• 2 eggs (or 1/2 c. yogurt)
  
• ¹⁄₂ cup pumpkin
• 1 cup sourdough starter
• ¹⁄₄ cup peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons oil or fat (I am currently using some beef tallow; will also use lard and bacon drippings)
• 1 cup oats
• 2 ¹⁄₂ cups whole wheat flour (approximately 450 grams - when I look up weight for whole wheat flour, answers are all over the place.  Bob's Red Mill says theirs is 152 grams per cup)
  

Directions

1. Combine the first 5 ingredients.
2. Add the oats and as much of the flour as you can until the dough is too hard to mix.
3. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead in the remaining flour.
4. Dough should be stiff, but not crumbly.
5. Roll out dough about 1/2-inch thick and cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters, or for a quicker version just cut 1/2-inch wide strips with a pizza cutter or knife, and then cut strips to 2-inch lengths.
6. Place on ungreased cookie sheets and bake at 325°F for 20 minutes.
7. Turn biscuits over and bake another 20 minutes.
8. Turn off oven and open door so it's ajar to let out excess heat for a few minutes and then close door and leave biscuits in oven until all the heat is gone.
9. If there is still moisture in the biscuits, let them air-dry until they are completely hard and crisp before storing.

*****
I vary this a lot based on what I have on hand.  Today I mixed it in food processor.

Ingredients:
-salmon (1 half pint jar plus skin & juice from a pint)
-2 eggs
-1 cup oats
-1 tsp. bacon drippings
-1 cup red lentils, ground into flour
-1 1/2 or so cup whole wheat, ground into flour

Followed baking directions above.  I think I'll take some to share with coworkers' dogs. 

fermented butternut squash

I used this recipe for some butternut squash.  Hopefully I'll be able to report back here that it goes well!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds butternut squash
• 1 tablespoon salt, dissolved into 2 cups of room temperature, filtered water (I used a locally made blueberry salt)

How-To

1. Peel the raw squash. Leave a small section of squash unpeeled so that you can include it at the top of your ferment (see above).  Peeling hard squash is a pain in the ass, so please be careful not to get impatient and slice off a finger.  I normally peel squash by roasting it for a few minutes and then peeling, but you do not want to heat your squash in this instance.
2. Cut the peeled squash into pieces.  My favorite of the 3 sizes I’ve tried was thin strips.  I made them with the mandoline last time and they’re great! You can cut them that way or into chunks or strips or whatever you like best. Cutting the pieces with peel on them into different sized/shaped pieces will help you find and remove them after fermentation.  (I made them into fairly thin chunks.)
3. Place peeled, chopped squash into a one quart vessel. Add the unpeeled pieces of squash to the top and pour brine over the whole shebang.
4. Submerge the squash using the cheapo jar method, pickle weights or your preferred method and cover it.
5. After five to ten days of fermentation, your squash will be ready. remove any weights, put the proper lid on the jar and store in the fridge. They won’t last long.